Tire-wrapping machine.



Patented May 7, 1918.

rZHF/er 'NVENTOR A. H. FISHER.

TIRE WRAPPING MACHlNE.

APPLMWN HLED m6111913.

Il *L ATTORNEY A* H FISHER,

TIREWRAPPNG MACHINE.

APPLICMIUN FILED 050.23, :913.

Patented May 7, 1918.

A 'lll/Iliff' zefmfafef;

A S s E W W,

ATTORNEY A. H. FISHER.

NRE WHAPPING MACHINE.

APPLlCAIGN FILED SEC.23. 1913.

Patented May 7, 1918.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT H. FISHER, OF LINCOLN', NEBRSKA.

TIRE-WRAPPING MACHINE.

Application led December 23, 1913.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. Flsnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Tire-Wrapping Machine, of `:vhich the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in machines for wrapping automobile tires in the course of manufacture, and its object is to provide a machine by means of which the Wrapping may be performed. ex peditiously and more effectively than hand wrapping.

In the cour of manufacture of antoniox bile tires the first process is to stretch plies of rubberized fabric on an iron form or core, a suitable number of plies being employed to reach the desired thickness, and then this body or carcass is Wrapped around and around with a strip of damp cloth of about two or three inches '1n Width. The object of the cloth is to hold the plies of rubberized fabric, usually canvas, tightly together while the body or carcass is passed through the sticking or vulcanizing process, after which the strip of cloth constituing the bandage is removed and the carcass is then readv for the application of the cushion and tread. Some manufacturers apply the tread by pressing` into molds, and others by wrapping in the manner just described, thus producing either a molded or a wrapped tread in accordance with the method of manufacture.

lt is necessary in Wrapping tires for vulcanizing that the wrappingr or bandage be bound around the tire very tightly,y so that the plies of fabric are pressed closely to` gather when the heat is applied and the rubber compound is softened. For this purpose it is obligatory that means bc provided whereby the strip of fabric constituting the bandage is under strong tension during the wrapping process, and provision must be made for the application of the requisite novvew. tor the purpose.

In l.ccordance with the present invention there is provided a rotatable shuttle carryirg the bandage strip in the form of a roll and this bandage strip is Wound around and around the carcass of the tire while mounted upon a core in such manner that each turn of the bandage slightly overlaps the next Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented May 7, 1918.

Serial No. 805.426.

preceding one until the entire tire is thus wound, and then as is customary the bandage is counter-wound about the tire. so that there is produced a second layer with the turns crossing those of the first layer, the bandage being` Wet or damp when applied.

In order to produce the requisite tension the shuttle is provided with tensioning means for the bandage so arranged that a constant tension 0f any desired degree may be applied to the bandage strip while it is being Wound upon the tire. Moreover, the invention contemplates the employment of a shuttle with dri ving;r means therefor so arranged to support the shuttle in a manner to relieve guides provided for the shuttle from the weight thereof, Wherefore the shuttle is in effect a lioating shuttle and wear upon the guides is reduced to a minimum. Again, provision is made by the present invention for the support of the tire and coro, the said core with the tire carcass thereon being rotated about th'e axis of generation of the core, which core moves through the shuttle coincident with the axis of generation thereof. both the core and shuttle rotat ing about their respective axes, the shuttle at a relatively high rate of speed and the core at a relatively low rate of speed. The core is provided with positive driving supports which may be adjusted to take any cores and carcasscsthereon of dilferent sizes, While a retaining member' or floating guide is provided to automatically adjust itself to cores and tires thereon of different sizes, but which will hold the core to its driving members at. all times. Y

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification. with the further understanding that While the drawings show a practical embodiment of the invention` the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the d envious. but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a structure embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof.

`about midway of 1ts lengt Fig.

ig. 4 is a section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1, the driving belts being omitted.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 with some parts omitted.

ig. 6 is an elevation of the shuttle with the core simply indicated to show its relative'position. l

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 Fi 6.

ig. 9 is a perspective view of a sleeve or spool shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

eferring to the drawings, there is shown a. base member 1 provided with legs 2 by which the top of the base member is elevated an appropriate distance above a support. The base member What elongated as compared to its width, and through the top of the base member is an elongated opening 3 flanked by ledges 4.

At the corner portions of the base member there are erected posts 5 joined together at the top by longitudinal connecting members 6 and end members 7 and wherever convenient or needed cross members 8 are provided to add rigidity to the frame.

in a section 'on the line 8-8 of metal, but any tion may be use l Fast to pposite sides of the base member receive and l., shaped shuttle 11. posed a to engage the shuttle atlopposite edges bo h diametrically and axially, wherefore the shuttle may turn in the g about the axis of generation of the shuttle, which, therefore, becomes its axis of rota/A tion, while movement lengthwise of the axis of the shuttle is prevented by engagement of the guides with the corresponding edges 0f the shuttle.

The shuttle is relatively wide on its eriphery, while :1t one end it is formed Wlth 12, the contibroken at one point by a of the periphalso broken at made complete by a door or gate 14 connected to the body of the shuttle at one end at the other end controlled by a latch 16 holding the gate shut when the latch when the gate is the ends by a hinge 15 and 3 isa section on the line 3-3 of i of the gate and the correspondin portions of the peri heral part of the shutt e are beveled as indicated at 17, thus forming coact ing shoulders reventing the ate from moving outwardly beyond the getermined perigheral surface of the shuttle.

T e end cross pieces 7 of the frame mounted on the base carry bearings 18 which may be of hanger t pe supported by threaded rods 19 control ed by nuts 20 so that the bearings are susceptible of a certain amount of adjustment up and down. Mounted in these bearings is a shaft 21 which when the machine is in operation is substantially horizontal, and carried by the shaft is a drive 22 receiving power from a. belt 23 coupled to or uneoupled from at t e will of an operator, a suitable handle or lever 25 being provided for the purpose. Mounted on the shaft 21 fast thereto is another pulley 26 and this pulley carries a belt 27 underrding the shuttle 11. pulley 26 is arranged so as to be directly over the shuttle 11 and by having the belt of appropriate length and by a suitable adyustment of the bearings 18 the shuttle is 1n most manner the guides 9, wherefore the as guides, a oating shuttle of which very little, of the weight is borne by the guides 9 and nearly or quite all' of the weight is sustained by the belt 27. Moreover, tively wide and the shuttle 1s comparatively heavy, so that while the rictional-engagef the belt depends almost wholly or on or secured to the flange 12 is a spindle 28 designed to receive a. sleeve 29 carrying a roll of tape or bandage 30 in the form oa long strip of suitable fabric, which may be termed wrapping tape, two or three inches in width. he spindle 28 is formed with an eon ated groove 28*l in w ch is secured one en of a, spring 31, 13e

while the other end of this spring is formed into a latch head 32 normally extending into obstructing relation to and preventing the sleeve 29 from accidentally escaping from the spindle 28. At the Same time no interference .is presented to t e rotation of the sleeve with the wound tape thereon about the spindle 28.

Mounted on the is a toothed tension roller or drum 35 held to the spindle hy a nut 36. The head 34 may be made of leather or some other friction material so that by screwing up the nut 36 to an appriate extent the toothed tension drum 35 may he frictionally held against rotation to any desired extent. To a web 37 on the ,inner wall of the flange 12 there is hinged ther spindle 38 carrying loosely a toothed roller or drum matching thc drum 35 and -f related thereto that the tape 30 may be passed between the two rollers, whereupon the teeth of one roller will force the band into'lhe spaces between the teeth of the other roller, so that the band in traveling between .he rollers will turn them and the force necessary to draw the band through the rollers is proportionate to the resistance offered by the frictional holding members of the drum or roller The spindle 38 at the end remote from its hinged end extends through the biurcated end 40 of a bracket 41 mount4 ed on the rim of the shuttle 11 and this bracket carries engage on one side or the other of the spindle 3S to hold the di um 39 in operative relation to the drum 35 or at a sutlicient distance away therefrom to permit the ready passage of thc tape 30 betweei'i the two drums constituting the tension lmembers ot the shuttle.

To prevent the tape from unwinding from Y t 29 t'aster than it is taken drums, there is provided a peripheral groove 30,

the sleeve or spool up by the tension a disk 29a having this disk portion of the' disk 29"Il `has lugs or projections 3,1 positioned to ,enter notches 32 in of the sleeve 29 so are then locked together. A brake shoe 33 is ivoted to the delige 12 by a screw'34l or ot erwise. Fast to the shoe 33 is one end of a spring 35, the other end of which is traversed by a threaded stud 36a projecting` from the shuttle 11 and a. nut 37*L determines the tension of the spring and thereby the pressure of the brake shoe on the disk 29, thus preventing a too rapid unwinding of the tape going to the tension drums 35.

Mountedon the ledges 4 of the bas-c l on a spring latch 42 shaped to.

`at the l shuttle are carriages 43 uprising standards 44 spaced apart laterally of the base and at their upper ends formed with bearings 45 for a shaft 46 carrying between the standards two frusto co ical or similarly shaped rollers 47 fast to the shaft and with their smaller ends presented one toward the other.

opposite sides of the each provided with Each shaft 46 carries beyond one of theV standards 45 a sprocket wheel 48 and engaging this sprocket wheel there is a sprocket chain 49 dropping through a slot 50 in the carriage 43. Depending from the under side of the carriage 43, which is in the main in the form of a plate, are brackets 51 each terminating at its lower end in a journal bearing 52 for a shaft 53 parallel with the shaft 46. At one carries a sprocket wheel 54 engaged by the sprocket chain 49 and at the other end this shaft carries a worm wheel 55 meshing with a worin 56 on a shaft 57 appropriately located below the top of the base and by the base through the intermediary of journal bearings 58 at appropriate points.A At one end the shaft 57 carries tight and loose pulleys 59, 60, there being three such pulleys, while a similar number of tight pulleys 61 are carried by the shaft 21. A straight belt 62 and a crossed belt 68 connect the two sets of pulleys so that. in one position of the belts the shaft 21 will drive the shaft 57 in one direction, while in the other position of the belts the shaft 57 is driven in the opposite direction. The arrangement is such that power from the shaft 21 causes a rotation of the shaft 57 to in turn cause the Worms 56 to drive the worm wheels 55, and thereby the shafts 53 d the sprocket wheels 54 on these shafts e same. Each carriage 43 is formed on itsunder 'face with flanges or ribs 64 engaging the guiding the carriages, Carriage is adepen'ding member 65 formed the shaft 67 is rotated.' This causes the approach or recession of the rollers 47 as may be desired.

The rollers 47 are designed to receive acore 69 with a bicycle tire carcass 70 thereon and when such a core is supported upon the rollers 47 at spaced points it is held thereto against tipping by a follower roller 71 in the form of a pair of frusto-conical members with their smaller ends toward each other and mounted for free rotation upon a rod or arbor 72 carried by a divided arm 73 pivoted at one end upon one of the cross members 8 of the main frame, and at the other end having a handle portion 74k Within easy reach of an operator. The arrangement is such that the guide roller 71 constitutes a tioatng guide for the tire form with the carcass thereon, always holding it in proper relation to the supporting Y1d driving rollers 47 and readily accommolmtinglitself to different diameters of forms. Y et it be assumed that it is desired to Wrap a tire carcass preparatory to vulcanization and already applied to the form, then the gate 14 is opened and the form with the carcass thereon is inserted through the gate until it rests upon the rollers 47 and by a suitable manipulation of the hand Wheel 68 the carriages are adjusted so that the portion of the form assing throu h the shut tle 11 will be in t e axis thereo l A roll of tape 30 suitabl dam ened is applied to the spindle 28 an locke thereto byuthe latch 32 and one end of the tape 30 is made fast to the carcass upon the core 69 havin 'been rst threaded between the tension ruins 35 and 39 and the roller 39 locked in place.

New, the clutch 24 is closed, whereupon the shaft 21 begins to rotate causing a like rotation of the shuttle 11 at an appropriate speed, this being' in actual practlce about two hundred revolutions per minute, the

belts62 and 63 having been properly ad-V justed upon their respective p leys.

The rollers 47 are driven at` such speed that thecore 69 with the carcass 70 is rotated at a speed permitting the wrapping of the tape 30 about the carcass to cause the turns of the tape to slightly overlap. The wrapping continues until the entire carcass has been covered by the bandage or Wrappin tape, and then the belts 62 and 63 are shi ted to reverse the direction of rotation of the core and carcass, whereupon the wrappin continues as before, but in the reverse direction with respect to the carcass, until two layers are wrapped upon the carcass as is customary.

The winding tape or bandage is placed upon the tire carcass much more than can be done by hand and at the same time more expeditiously, the wrapping machine performing the work of several operators.

It is of great importance that the wra ping or bandage be applied very tight and this is determined y the tension ro ers 35 and 39. .Moreover` the machine is readily adjusted for tires of diierent diameters and sizes of which there are 4a. large tlghtly,4

number. The adjustment is uickly effected by a few turns of the shaft 6 the follower guide roller 71 automatically accommodating itself to the different sizes of tires and forms' thereof.

Besides the ada tability of the machine to run at high specl it is practically noiseless in operation and has practically no gears to get out of order, the only gears in the Whole machine being represented by the Worm gears employed.

' By supporting the shuttle by the belt so that it is 1n ei'ect a ioating shuttle not only is the wear reduced to a negligible minimum, but an abundance of power may be applied to the shuttle without undue wear, for it is advisable to employ a very tight tension on the tape or bandage7 wherefore the tire is Wrappedvcrv tightly. Heretofore it has been foun impracticable to tightly Wrap tires by machines, and this is the reason Why a lar e percentage of tires are being wrapped by and in order that the Wrapping may be suliiciently ti ht to ro.q vide good vulcanization. With t e mac ine ofthe present invention, however, experience hasshplwli' that the Wrapping is much betterl an( more uniform than when wrapped by hand1 while the output of the machine is equal to labor of quite a number of operatives doing the wra ping by hand, these statements bein based 'upon the ac tion of a commercial? embodiment of the present invention in successful practical operation. A machine constructed substantiallygas shown in the drawings is in every day use, and in no instance has it done in perfect Wrapping. c

When it is desired to remove a wrapped tire with its core and substitute an un- Wrapped one, the tape or band is severed, the gate 14 is opened, and the follower guide roller 71 is lifted, whereupon the Wrapped tire with its core may be removed andan unwrappedA one substituted, and if it be ofy a different size the .carriages 43 are quickly adjustedtoward or from each other to accommodate the tire and its core so that the -pa'rt to be wrapped passes through substantially the axis of the shuttle 11. This adjustment may be made whileithe machine is running, if necessary, for the follower guide roller 71 at oncaadjusts itself to any change in osition ofthe core and tire carcass carries thereby.`

progressive movement of the tire carcass causes the wrapping to assume a heiical form, and when the core is reversed, in direction the helical wrapping also reverses, so that the overr layer has' the turns crossing those of the under or inner layer.

t is claimed is l `a ftire Wrapping machine, a rota-- table shuttle, guides therefor shaped to restrict the movements ofthe shuttle to that ring-shaped shuttle,

1 5 under-rid lng relation v lar shuttle mounted tain the core and carcass in 45 member,

of rotation, and a drive belt in underrunning sustaining relation to the shuttle and supporting the weight thereof.

2. In a machine for wrapping tires, a. edge guides therefor, a driving pulley above the shuttle and a belt extending about the pulley and shuttle in underriding relation to the latter and related to the shuttle to hold it suspended `lo in the guides.

3. In a machine for wrapping tires, a ring-shaped shuttle, edge guides therefor, aV driving pnlleY above the shuttle and a belt extending about the pulley and shuttle in to thc latter and related to the shuttle to hold it suspended in the. guides, the pulley being mounted for up and down adjustment.

In a tire wrapping machine, a circufor rotation upon a subhstantially horizontal axis, supporting and driving means for thc core and tire carcass thereon and located at opposite ends of the thereof to susan upright position in traversing relation to the shuttle for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, a guiding follower above the shuttle 1n position to bear down upon a carcass and core to hold said carcass and core upon the supporting means in a substantially upright position, means for imparting rotative movements to the shuttle, means for driving the supporting means of the core and carcass to impart rotative movements thereto, and means for causing the simultaneous separation or approach of the supporting means for the core and carcass to maintain cores of different sizes with the portion traversing the shuttle substantially central thereto.

5. A tire wrapping machine comprising` a basic member and superstructure, a hollow i'otatable-shuttle mounted. on the basic of the shuttle, rotatable supports for a core and tire carcass thereon mounted on the carriages, driving means for the supports, means for adjusting the opposite ends carriages toward and from the shuttle, a

drive shaft mounted on the superstructure, a pulley on the drive shaft, aY belt carried by the pulley and encircling the shuttle in under-riding relation thereto, driving connections between the drive shaft and the driving means for the core supporting devices on the carriages, and a guide member to engage a core and tire carcass thereon traversing the shuttle, said guide member having a constant tendency to remain in engagement with the core and tire carcass.

In a machine for wrapping tires, a shuttle, underriding supports for sustaining the tire core and carcass in an upright position comprising carriages at opposite ends of the shuttle each provided with a rotatable driving support for the tire core and carcass, an elongated driving means for the rotatable supports, means for adjusting both carriages simultaneously toward or from the shuttle, and an overrunning follower for engaging the core and carcass on the top portion thereof.

In a machine for Wrapping tires, a rotatable shuttle mounted for rotation upon a substantially horizontal axis, carriages at opposite sides of the shuttle and each hava rotatable support for the core and carcass at spaced pplnts in an' uposition in traversin relation to and exten ing above the shutt e, means for adjusting both carriages simultaneousl toward and from each other, and driving means common to both rotatable supports.

8. In a tire wrapping machine, a rotatable ring-shaped shuttle rovided with a eripheral belt face andp circumferentiaily extended edge guides on opposite sides of the shuttle delmn between them a path for a driving belt or the shuttle.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT H. FISHER.

Witnesses:

HARRY W. LANSING, C. F. RmnLn. 

